Preliminary report on the effects of withholding salt and the effects of high and low potassium-sodium ratios upon the feedlot performance of lambs.

Many of the feed lambs coming into Kansas have not had access to salt for several weeks and some of the lamb feeders do not add salt to their lambs fattening rations because of the possible losses in getting the lambs again accustomed to eating salt. The experimental studies, initiated this year, should indicated whether such a practice results in poorer feedlot performance. The studies should also lead to a clearer understanding of the physiological function of salt in the sheep’s diet

Salt research with feeder lambs.

The consumption of salt by herbivorous animals in general, and their apparent relish for salt, have been recognized for many years, but its importance may be questioned by many because of lack of knowledge of both the practical and fundamental aspects. It is commonly believed that the large amounts of potassium in feeds are antagonistic to the animal’s body sodium, and this potassium causes an excretion or loss of sodium which may be adequately replaced only by practical salt (NaCl) supplementation of the feed or ration. However, this belief has not been established conclusively in all of its elaborations designed to explain why these herbivorous animals require supplemental salt

Project Commercial 108: Salt Research with feeder lambs

Experiments designed to test the need and value of salt in the rations of feeder lambs have been conducted by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station for the past three years. The tests have shown that feedlot gains and feedlot efficiency are reduced when supplemental salt is withheld from the rations of fattening lambs in the feedlot. When the lamb were all slaughtered after a uniform feeding period, the lambs receiving no salt had lower yielding and lower grading carcasses than the lambs given salt